Toure Roberts - Building You

I want to talk today about «building you.» Building you, and it’s interesting. Really quickly, I’m going to pray, but I just want to say something while we’re on that passage. When he talks about building, that word «prosper,» the root word translated as «prosper» was «safe.» I think that someone needs to know—maybe it’s you who are watching, maybe it’s you who are listening—that even if you’re in this process of God prospering you, it’s safe. It may not feel safe sometimes; God puts you in uncomfortable situations. Sometimes God places you in environments that are unfamiliar. And I’m not talking about dangerous situations, like when God sends you overseas or when He gives you a ministry to the streets where there may be real danger. But let me say this: the safest place any of us can ever be is in the will of God, no matter where that will sends you. Safe for us often means comfortable. We associate being comfortable with being safe. We say, «I know where this is coming from, I know this person,» but often, God will move you into unfamiliar places. You must recognize that if it’s God and if it’s His perfect purpose, it’s safe. I just wanted to point that out. All right, let’s pray and get into this, because we have a lot to discuss today. I’m going to be the professor. I’ll be the teacher today; I’m not going to preach. If you don’t believe me, feel free to put in the feed, «I don’t believe you, PC.» We’re going to fix that. But let’s pray. God, thank you so much for Your rich and radical love for each of us. It is abundant. I thank You for all who are watching, God, from all around the world, and for all those who are listening right now. We want a touch from You. You know what we need to hear, what we need to know, what we need to understand. Spirit of the Living God, breathe on us. May all of us come out of this moment better, wiser, and stronger, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

So again, I want to talk to you today about building you. This morning, I reflected on how it is by nothing other than the grace of God that I have been able to build a large global church that reaches millions of people in over 100 nations—almost 200 nations. It’s just incredible! The reason this is a miracle, and I know it’s by God’s grace, is that I didn’t set out to do it. Seriously, I had no desire to do so. The two things that mattered to me were pursuing my personal calling and purpose, and building big people. I learned from a mentor early on, while I was being shaped as a pastor, who told me not to build big buildings, but to build big people. At the time, I didn’t understand this because he had a big building. In fact, he had several buildings. But he meant it wasn’t about just being ingenious. Now, I understand because if you build big people, you’ll have big things. With that mindset, I learned that by focusing on building big people, including myself, God could build a big life on top of me and others. It was never about just building something; we’re builders, so yes, we’ll build things, but it’s about building big people. If you build big people, God can do big things.

In fact, when He was speaking to Peter and made that promise to him, He said, «On you, I will build my church.» Ooh, I didn’t even notice that until I studied it! Look at what He said: He tells Peter, «Upon you, I’ll build my church.» In other words, if you don’t become who you need to be, He can’t build on you. This is revelation right here for everyone! He says, «If I get you together and if I build you, then you will be so reliable that I can build my very church on you, ” to such an extent that the gates of hell themselves cannot and will not prevail against you. I can’t give you that; I can make you that.

What troubles me often is that I see so many people trying to build their careers, their romance stories, their ministries, and everything else. How often do you hear people encouraging you to hustle, to get out there and build? But who’s telling you to build you? In the very passage of Scripture that we all claim for blessings, God is saying, „I am not going to give you something; I’m going to make you something.“ Sometimes that making happens through difficult situations. So, if you’re taking notes, I want you to write this down…